Dan is a former Royal Navy fighter pilot who has seen combat in major conflict zones. As a UK TOPGUN instructor, he went on to command an airbase of over 3,000 personnel. An influential thinker whose advice has been sought by government ministers, Dan is a former aide-de-camp to Her Majesty The Queen.

A highly experienced speaker with an engaging and interactive style, Dan is extremely skilled at gearing his material to the precise needs of his audience. He uses entertaining and dramatic stories to bring the desired messages to life. Audiences always find Dan’s talks gripping, relevant, thought-provoking and highly memorable.

Dan now runs his own consultancy where he teaches state of the art skills in leadership, resilience, building high performance teams and creating a winning business culture. Find out more on Dan’s website here.

Edward Colver MBE MBA

Edward commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1999. He commanded at Company and Platoon levels interspersed with a variety of high level technical and program management roles.

During his 17 years within the Military, Edward has excelled both professionally and within the area of sport. He has captained the RMAS and British Army Germany 1^st XVs and represented the Army in tennis and golf. His professional highlights include leading a unit during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, achieving promotion to Major at 30, the youngest in the British Army at the time, and being appointed as a Member of the British Empire for his leadership on the frontline in Afghanistan.

Edward is a proven international leader who thrives on mentoring the individual, developing teams and delivering success. This was most noticeably demonstrated when he successfully led 700 men and women from 6 different nations on combat missions whilst in Afghanistan. Since leaving the Army Edward’s multinational leadership experience combined with his knowledge of the Arabic language and culture, has led him to research and write about the development of global leadership competencies at a post graduate level.

By combining his experiences of commanding soldiers on the front line, dealing with catastrophic events, transitioning into the business world and joining a public sector organisation he delivers a compelling, insightful and down to earth approach to leadership, management, resilience, risk and dealing with adversity.

Mike Ling MBE

Mike has taken part in a record 10 display seasons with the Red Arrows. In that time he flew 2,585 sorties in Red Arrows aircraft, played a part in 700 public displays and flew a red Hawk jet into 46 different countries; as far west as New York and as far east as China.

Mike achieved his childhood dream when he was selected to join the Red Arrows for the 2008 display season to fly as Red 3 before then being chosen as Red 7 in the prestigious Synchro Pair for 2009. In March 2010, while leading the Synchro Pair as Red 6, Mike survived a head-on mid-air training collision at a closing speed of over 750 mph. A low-level ejection caused major injuries resulting in surgery and months of rehabilitation before Mike could get back in the air.

In 2012 Mike flew as Red 9 in flypasts for major events including the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony and Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Other career highlights include racing a jet against four-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton in his F1 car. These achievements have made Mike a familiar face across the air display scene.

Mike was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List at the end of 2017 for his services to the Red Arrows, and subsequently received the Masters Commendation from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots in October 2018. He became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in March 2019.

Mike left the Royal Air Force in April 2019 after 21 years of service. He has since become a commercial pilot and flight instructor and is a full-time member of the Blades Aerobatic Team, the world’s only aerobatic airline. In this role he performs public displays but also relishes in the opportunity to give passengers the chance to experience close formation aerobatics in a team of all ex-Red Arrows pilots.

Andy Torbet

After 10 years in the British Forces Andy left to pursue a career in scientific exploration and film-making. To date Andy has presented on 19 TV series including BBC1, BBC2, CBBC, Discovery US and the History Channel. This has seen him free dive under the Alaskan ice, stand in the middle of a 700 degree fireball, climb a 12 storey glass building, swim with sharks, cave dive inside icebergs and present live on BBC1.

With his background as an ex-Bomb Disposal Officer, Paratrooper and Army Diver Andy uses his own life experiences and love for extreme sports to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible. As part of a TV series called Beyond Bionic, Andy asked contacts within the UK Space Agency to personally build him a set of jet engines that would allow him to fall faster in a skydive. The project eventually led to Andy being involved as a test pilot with the UK’s Space sector in their development of prototype equipment.

As a keen Skydiver and Wing suiter Andy has made various films for TV in the name of science. This has seen him execute a HAHO (High Altitude High Opening) jump for BBC’s Cloud Lab as well as perform a solo jump from 28,000ft over the Arizona desert with various scientific collection apparatus strapped to his chest, whilst racing a Peregrine Falcon – the fastest animal in the world.

Despite the technical and extreme nature of the work he undertakes, Andy maintains a deep interest in academia. With a degree in Zoology and a Masters in Archaeology, Andy’s academic interests are as varied as his extreme skills. He has a keen interest in science and engineering and he’s a member of Mensa, the High IQ Society – “For every hour I spend in the gym I’ll spend three reading a book”.

Most recently Andy has become involved with elements of the UK Space community assisting in the design and testing of space exploration equipment.

David Coulthard MBE

Winner of 13 Grands Prix, including twice winner of both the British and Monaco Grands Prix, David achieved a remarkable 62 podium finishes during a stellar 15 year Formula One career which saw him race against world class competition including Michael Schumacher, Mike Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

David played a key role in helping McLaren to win the Formula One World Championships for Constructors in 1998, the team finishing 2nd in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He also finished 2nd in the 2001 Formula One World Championship for Drivers behind the dominant Schumacher/Ferrari partnership and was 3rd in the World Championship on no fewer than four occasions.

As a founding member of the Red Bull Racing team in 2005, David brought the team its first podium finish in 2006 in Monaco, and was instrumental in developing it into a 4-times World Championship winning team in 2010-2013. When he stopped racing in F1 at the end of 2008 he held the record for being the highest points scoring British Formula One driver of all time.

Since retiring as an F1 driver at the end of 2008, David has continued working for Red Bull Racing, driving its cars in promotional events all over the world. He also remains as a brand ambassador for leading companies including Mercedes-Benz, UBS Bank, Red Bull, IWC, Cooper Tires, Transcal and Heineken.

He has established a successful second career as a world class broadcaster and commentator, initially with BBC Television and more recently at Channel 4, for which David’s production company ‘Whisper Films’ produces the television coverage of Formula One in the UK. Outside of Formula One, David has been a successful entrepreneur, investing in a range of successful businesses which have added to his reputation as being a winner on and off track.

Gavin Hewitt

Gavin Hewitt is a prominent writer and broadcaster. He was until recently Chief Correspondent at BBC News. From 2009 to 2015 he was the BBC’s Europe Editor.

He has had a front row seat at many of the world’s major events.

In 2016 he covered the Trump campaign in the United States. He was in East Berlin the night the Berlin Wall came down and in Moscow for the end of Soviet Communism. He covered the 9/11 attacks in the United States and reported from New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina. He was embedded with the American Third infantry for the war in Iraq and covered the Obama campaign in 2008.

He has given speeches in New York, Toronto, Italy, Germany, Brussels and Luxembourg.

Gavin has four main corporate speeches:

The Battles of the Mind: drawing on experiences including covering war and natural disasters he talks about resilience, courage, failure, survival and moral dilemmas.

The Disruptors: Using some personal stories he talks about how the information revolution is changing the world of work, shaking up politics and challenging democracy.

Portraits of power: Using a mixture of stories and anecdotes he talks about power, what it does to people, and how modern leadership is changing.

Global Shocks: Having spent five years in Brussels and having covered the Trump campaign he talks about Brexit and anti establishment politics and the modern era of insecurity.

Gavin has written three books including the ‘Lost Continent’ on the political and economic crisis in Europe. His blog was voted one of the most influential in Europe.

Before that Gavin wrote ‘A Soul on Ice’ about his experiences as a frontline correspondent. It was described as a ‘breath-taking recollection of real stories’ and was later used as the basis for a West End play.

In the eighties he lived in Toronto Canada and worked for Canadian Broadcasting. He has written articles for the Outlook Section of the Washington Post.

He has won a Bafta, an Emmy, an RTS and a Peabody award.

Iain Hennessey

Iain Hennessey currently leads an Innovation Team which is working with world leading companies and local small businesses, using gaming technology, sensors and cognitive computing to predict the progression of illnesses and plan individualised treatments.

He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with honours degrees in Medicine, Surgery and Anatomical sciences, before going on to train as a paediatric surgeon in the United Kingdom and Australia. He has always been interested in innovation, helping found a startup surgical simulation company as a trainee and then progressing to become the clinical director of innovation at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Notable achievements have included forming partnerships with large multi national companies such as Sony and IBM, building a unique underground 1000sqm innovation facility for collaboration with the tech sector and developing a team of clinician entrepreneurs to drive change within the NHS.

He founded the world’s first cognitive hospital AI project for patient support. This was a healthcare innovation ecosystem at Alder Hey, centred on a 1000m2 health innovation hub which also featured an award-winning team.

As Director of Innovation Iain is passionate about working with companies who are at the leading edge of technology; for example, trying out new kit such as virtual reality headsets, or visiting a super computer to see how it crunches data to produce the best care plan for a patient.

Alder Hey is pioneering the use of 3D printed body organs which can be taken into operating theatres, to help guide surgery; and they are helping to develop gaming and the use of artificial intelligence to communicate, entertain and reduce stress in child patients.

He is currently developing a long term strategy to build the worlds first “Living hospital” by adapting emerging technologies to enable the building to care for the children within it, both medically and holistically.

In 2017, he was presented with a gold award for his pioneering leadership of innovation. In 2020 Iain was appointed Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Liverpool.

TALK TOPICS INCLUDE:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Living/learning from mistakes
Human factors in the operating room
Creating a culture of innovation
Dealing with fear

Caspar Berry

Caspar is a highly distinctive corporate speaker with a unique and challenging message that requires people to question many of the things they take for granted.

Caspar Berry, started his career in the first series of Byker Grove on BBC1 alongside Ant and Dec. He went on to read Economics and Anthropology at Cambridge and – after setting his sights on becoming a professional film writer – had his first screenplay produced by Film Four whilst in his final year.

By the time he was 23 Caspar was writing for Miramax and Columbia Tri-Star. At 25 he moved to Las Vegas and became a professional poker player for the next three years of his life.

In 2002 he co-founded Twenty First Century Media and built it into the fastest growing audiovisual media company in the North East of England. At this time he also began his career as a speaker and catalyst for new thinking within business, specialising in risk-taking and decision-making. In 2008 his company was sold to Bob Geldof’s media giant, Ten Alps.

He returned to his television roots as the presenter and poker expert on a number of TV shows, most notably: Poker Night Live, voted Britain’s best poker show; and Sky Poker, the country’s premier nightly poker show. He also appeared on Sky Sports, was the poker strategy writer for Flush magazine and was also the poker adviser on the James Bond movie, Casino Royale.

Caspar is a highly distinctive corporate speaker with a unique and challenging message that requires people to question many of the things they take for granted. Drawing from his diverse range of experiences in poker, business and life, Caspar offers a fresh look at the way individuals approach risk and take decisions in order to gain a competitive edge. Caspar’s key message is that understanding how to take calculated risks is critical in the creation of dynamic leaders and managers who will innovate and change the world around them.

Caspar is also a charismatic host, often leading an end of day Poker activity as a follow through from his key note speech or workshops sessions. During which Caspar back-references his insights about risks, decision or luck to coach his audience to play poker and then commenting on and hosting a poker tournament.

He has now delivered over 1000 sessions as a speaker and trainer for hundreds of organisations including Google, The Met Police, IBM, Castrol, KPMG, ASDA, Orange, Eon, Ernst and Young, BAA and Ashridge Management School.

Steve McCulley

Steve switched to motorpsort as a second career and made an immediate impact. He has competed in over 50 races in the last four years, with a 50% podium finish rate, and is an ARDS ‘A Grade’ Instructor.

Prior to his motorsport career, he was a commissioned officer in the Royal Marines for seventeen years, where he served in all the Commando Units and deployed all over the world, including operational tours to Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, before his career was cut short.

Whilst in command of 175 marines on his second operational tour to Afghanistan in 2011, during an extremely hostile period in Helmand Province, his leadership and management skills were fully tested in the most dire of situations. Whilst operating in an area that at the time was considered to be the most dangerous square mile on Earth, he was very seriously injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which put him in a coma for three weeks and physical rehabilitation for over two years.

Whilst in rehab he soon realised that his military career was over and, faced with great adversity, he turned his passion for cycling into a business and established a custom carbon bike building company – LIOS Bikes (abbreviated from the names of his children, Lily & Oscar). In November 2018 Steve won the ‘Heropreneur of the Year’ award, an inaugural event aimed to shine a spotlight on the business achievements of Armed Forces personnel who have founded their own companies.

As he could no longer compete on two wheels, and being a petrol head from a young age, he gravitated towards four wheels and an engine. After being introduced to Mission Motorsport in 2013, Steve soon found himself involved with the forces’ motorsport charity whilst in its infancy and at the beginning of 2014 he was selected to race in the 2014 Caterham Academy.

In 2017 Steve had a 70% podium finish rate in the Caterham 310R Championships and in 2018 he is aiming to translate that success to British GT, where he will be racing a Jaguar F Type SVR GT4 in British GT for the Invictus Games Racing Team. With the ambition to continue competing at the highest levels, he continues to build upon his motorsport career in order to enhance his experience as a talented racing driver, coach and instructor.

Steve is also a polished inspirational speaker. He highlights his experience in leadership and management whilst serving in the marines and setting up a new business. Steve also speaks insightfully about the adversity he faced in overcoming life-changing injuries and he shares his passion for motorsport, that fuels his drive to succeed.

Speaker Theme: Risk

Dan Stembridge MA FRAeS ADC RN